Mathew Cahill saw as well as anyone how much it means for a trainer to win through to a Country Championships Final last year and it's something he'll be out to repeat when the $150,000 Western Districts heat is run at Coonamble on Sunday.
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Cahill rode Sneak Preview to victory in last year's heat as part of a winning quinella for Kody Nestor.
It was Nestor's first attempt at the series but this year the Dubbo trainer heads to Coonamble as the one to beat with an imposing three-pronged attack headlined by early $2 favourite Jailbreak, while Cahill will ride Wild Rocket for Narromine trainer Kylie Kennedy.
Wild Rocket will start the rich feature event as Nestor's main threat, as the filly has all four of her career wins in her past five starts.
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Her most recent event was a Country Championships Preview event at Dubbo Turf Club, and she showed good pace to storm home and win that.
The victory continued a strong partnership with Cahill, who has ridden the four-year-old to four wins and four top four finishes in her past 11 starts.
"I rode her for the first time at Narromine (in April of last year) and she missed the start and got a long way back but flashed home and just got beat," Cahill said.
"She was not really sure what she was doing but has definitely always shown a bit of ability.
"She's been slow out of the gates and does a few things wrong but every starts she's getting a little bit better."
Wild Rocket is still a horse finding her way but the recent form has Cahill confident enough to state she's "a genuine top four chance" on Sunday.
She will start from gate nine in the field off 11 and will again sit back early while the likes of Jailbreak and the Leo Harland-trained Patrick May are expected to set the pace.
"Jailbreak stands out and deserves to be favourite and then there's Patrick May, Activation, Eva's Deel, and Wild Rocket. There's not a lot between them," Cahill said.
"Kody has got the top two or three chances and they're racing well so they'll be tough to beat but I'm happy with my little filly.
"She's racing well in her past five or six starts and is getting better every run and Kylie has done a really good job with her. She should be peaking on Sunday."
Kennedy has only been a part of the Country Championships once before, finishing 11th with Litigation in the 2017 qualifier at Dubbo.
This year she heads in with two hopes, leading contender Wild Rocket and Wilburglen.
Wilburglen, to be ridden by Ashley Morgan, was once trained by Nestor but won on debut for Kennedy at the Cobar picnics and finished third first-up at the Condobolin picnics last time out.
Wild Rocket was on the second line of betting behind Jailbreak on Friday at $4.80 while the other single-digit hopes were Activation ($6), and Patrick May and Eva's Deel (both $8).
Sunday's $150,000 qualifier jumps at 5.25pm.
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